A family of four on holiday in Cyprus were rescued on Tuesday evening after being found in the sea off Oroklini unable to reach the shore due to high winds, police said on Wednesday.
Marine police officers, after being alerted at around 7.50pm on Tuesday of swimmers at risk of drowning, rushed to the area where they found a man with his eight-year-old daughter on a surfboard around a kilometre from the shore. They were both suffering from hypothermia due to the very strong winds and had been in the water for several hours.
Some 500 metres away, they also located the man’s wife with their five-year-old daughter holding onto a small inflatable boat, in a state of panic and hypothermia.
The officers brought the family to shore, where they gave them first aid. All four are now in good health, police said.
8 Comments
Green Turtles
July 12, 2018 at 10:11They really need to start putting up signs with warnings about using inflatables and boards. You can get swept away so quickly. My husband and I are both strong swimmers, however we usually go swimming where we know there are life guards on duty, and if it is later than that, never swim beyond the rock breakers, in front of them, we try to stay near enough to the shore. When we have the little one with us, we make sure we go no deeper than where we can stand with our upper bodies above the waterline, in case anything happens, rip currents can come out of nowhere. Common sense really, and the fact that in South Africa my Mother watched 4 tourists drown at the mouth of a river, and nobody could assist them, a. time factor (it happened so quickly) b. it would be almost certain death if anyone went in. Had this drummed into us from a young age.
DisplayDriver
July 11, 2018 at 18:17I would ask the doctors for a second opinion, hypothermia at 7.50 PM in the sea at Cyprus?
A is B
July 11, 2018 at 19:29Yep, the wind chill factor really does make you cold even in the med in summer. I went for a swim one night with a friend and had to get out, things also shrank.
peemdubya
July 13, 2018 at 00:34Ooh ‘er, Matron!!!!
A is B
July 13, 2018 at 12:47Tart.
divadi bear
July 11, 2018 at 18:12They were very lucky !!
Ingrian Observer
July 11, 2018 at 17:12Family of two adult idiots and two innocent children is safe, thanks to marine police.
Major Accident
July 11, 2018 at 18:14Well done the police. Could have been tragic.